Twist Based Dispenser

ABSTRACT

A dispenser for dispensing fluent products by twisting a flexible bag which contains the fluent product. Enforcing outflow of the fluent product is based on reducing the bag&#39;s volume by twisting the bag. The bag ends are connected to a container composed of two concentric cylindrical parts which enable twisting the bag by rotating one part with respect to the other. Flexible fins and ramp grooves of the parts implement a rotational ratchet mechanism which also allows for bag contraction during twisting. The ratchet mechanism enables accurate control of outflow and also keeps the bag in the last twisted pose it arrives to when the user stops twisting. The bag is connected to the two container parts by two butterfly nuts which enable easy manual bag replacement. The bag&#39;s nozzle is equipped with means for opening and shutting the product outflow.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of a provisional patent application:

Ser. No. 61/825,114 filed on May 20, 2013

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is in the area of dispensers which employ twisting of flexible bags for dispensing fluent products stored in such bags. Fluent products include food products such mustard or ketchup or non edible products such as glue or wax.

2. Description of Related Art

The search for dispenser inventions which employ twisting of a bag or a container yielded several applications and patents. But all of them were entirely dissimilar to our invention. Application number US 20120175337 by Gill which is entitled “Hot fill Container with Vertical Twist” describes a construction of a container with helical grooves which accommodate expansion in hot fill packaging process and has nothing to do with dispensing by twisting flexible bags as in our invention.

Another invention: application number US 20070056969 by Wang pertains to a twisting collapsible container structure composed of tandem compartments supported by rigid sticks connected by swivel joints which collapse by structure twisting.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,472 by Thayer describes a twist dispenser which has a plurality of product compartments each with a piston which is moved by twisting a screw. U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,302 by Dornbusch describes a twist up dispenser which pushes the product by a piston installed on a twisting screw mechanism. Many other inventions use similar piston-screw method for dispensing products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,336 by Sneider describes a syringe for dispensing fluids which has a tubular side wall formed by a plurality of spiral ribs for twisting and collapsing while dispensing the stored fluid. The spiral ribs have flat outer surfaces separated by V-shaped grooves which allow expansion and contraction. This invention is different from our invention in several important aspects. Our invention uses a flexible bag with no ribs or any other predefined structure to store the product whereas Sneider's invention employs solid ribs with helical structure. These ribs can contract or expand only in radial direction and since they are rigid their maximal contraction is limited to a circle with a perimeter equal to their aggregate widths. This means that Sneider's dispenser cannot be entirely emptied in full contraction whereas our dispenser can contract to almost zero volume, thus dispensing the product to the last drop. Another important difference between our invention and Sneider's patent is the our invention includes a rotating ratchet mechanism which enables to accurately control the amount of dispensed product and also preserves the dispenser's amount of twisting rotation and the dispenser's volume after each twisting application. Whereas Sneider's dispenser does not have any means of preserving the twisting amount and therefore it will return to a fully expanded position as soon as the user stops squeezing.

Currently, dispensers for fluent (flow-able) products such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, honey, teeth paste or liquid glue are made from glass or plastic bottles. These bottles must be shaken or squeezed in order to dispense their contents. The problem with these methods of dispensing is that it is inconvenient and large portions of the contents sticks to the inner walls of the dispenser and cannot be extracted by shaking or squeezing. Partial solutions to this problem have been proposed by several patents as follows.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,083,450 and 6,238,201, 6,988,496, 6,942,127, 6,948,636, Ida (U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,202), Streck (U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,224), Swahl (U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,457) and in application Numbers: 20070262093, 20070045339, 20060163287, 2005269359 and 20050238765, 20040062840 disclose various multilayer containers that include an outer shell (container in our terminology) and a flexible liner (bag in our terminology) for holding fluent product to be dispensed. The product is dispensed from the bag by applying air pressure on the bag by different means. The air pressure on the walls of the bag forces the product out from the bag's opening. As product is dispensed from the dispenser, the inner bag pulls away from the outer shell and collapses. In application 20070262093 and others an atmospheric vent is disposed in the bottom wall of the shell for venting the volume between the bag and the shell to atmosphere so that the outer shell retains its geometry or configuration while the bag (inner liner) collapses as product is dispensed.

All these patents offer only a partial solution to the problem of complete dispensation of the entire volume of fluent product stored in the bag. Even though the fluent product is prevented from sticking to the container wall by holding it inside the bag, it is impossible to empty the bag entirely because of two reasons: Firstly, the fluent product flows outside the bag's opening when air pressure is exerted on the bag but the prior art did not propose any means for blocking inwards flow (reverse flow) when the air pressure is released. This results in reverse flow of air and product into the bag each time air pressure is released and it is impossible to empty the bag efficiently.

Secondly, in our experiments, we found that after applying air pressure on the bag that contains the fluent product and dispensing part of its contents, the bag tends to collapse prematurely at about its midpoint. This compartmentation happens because the external air pressure applied on the bag causes two opposite bag's walls to adhere to one another blocking the passage. This premature collapse divides the bag into two (or more) isolated compartments. Applying more pressure only empties the compartment adjacent to the bag's opening while the compartment further from the opening still remains blocked and full of fluent product that it is impossible to dispense by any additional pressure. The reason is that the further compartment remains isolated from the bag's opening by the collapsed section of the bag's walls. More pressure only adheres the collapsed walls more strongly.

To summarize, in the prior art mentioned above, there is no solutions offered for the problems of preventing reverse flow of air and product when the air pressure on the bag is released, and preventing the phenomenon of isolated compartments in the bags. Spahni et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,300), Szczepanski (U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,978), Baily (U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,790) offer a solution to these problems by adding a unidirectional outflow valve at the dispenser outlet which prevents air from entering the bag via its outlet opening and also add a porous conduit inside the bag which prevents bag's compartmentation.

In Jun. 21, 2009 we filed a patent application Ser. No. 12/456,748 by Ben-Arie which is described as follows: “A dispenser for dispensing one or more fluent products, which comprises: a container made of flexible and resilient material, one or more flexible bags which contain the fluent products, a control outlet valve and an inlet valve”. In one embodiment of a dispenser for single fluent product, the outlet valve is attached to a single bag. In one embodiment of a dispenser for multiple fluent products has multiple bags each connected to a control outlet valve. Both the control outlet and the inlet valves allow only one directional flow but the control outlet valve can also block all flow when in closed position. This is an essential feature because it prevents unintended outflow of product by accidental squeezing of the container. However, such a feature is absent in all the other invention mentioned above

However, the dispenser of patent application Ser. No. 12/456,748 by Ben-Arie has few significant drawbacks. Firstly, it is hard to dispense viscous fluent materials such as mustard or mayonnaise because they require exerting on the bag relatively high air pressure in order to force them out. This requires the user to apply strong squeezing force for dispensing which is hard to implement manually. Also, the dispenser's structure requires air tight construction, which is relatively expensive to manufacture.

The twisting dispenser described in this provisional patent, has entirely different dispensing method and has many advantages over all the dispensers described above. The twisting dispenser is based on storing the fluent material that needs to be dispensed in a flexible bag similar to the dispenser of patent application patent application Ser. No. 12/456,748 by Ben-Arie, but the method of forcing the fluent material out of the bag is entirely different. The enforcement method is based on twisting the bag. The twisting method is much more effective than air pressure or hand pressure because it exerts much higher pressure on the fluent material forcing its outflow. This enables easy dispensing of even semi fluent materials with high viscosity such as toothpaste or wax. In addition, the dispenser's twisting mechanism has simple structure and does not require any airtight structure. Such mechanism is relatively easier and cheaper to manufacture. Also, bag twisting does not cause any compartmentation. By controlling the amount of the twisting rotation the user can accurately control the amount of fluent material dispensed and to dispense it till the last drop. The twisting is implemented by a rotating ratchet mechanism which keeps the dispenser at the last twist position when the twisting stops. This keeps the bag at the last twisted position and volume and does not allow any outside air to enter the bag. This ensures that bag contains at all time only fluent material. This feature is important for fluent materials which deteriorate when they are in contact with air such as glue.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to a dispenser for dispensing fluent products by twisting a flexible bag which contains the fluent product. Enforcing outflow of the fluent product is based on reducing the bag's volume by twisting the bag. The twisting method is quite effective because as it decreases the bag's volume it exerts high pressure on the fluent material inside the bag forcing its outflow. This enables easy dispensing of even fluent materials with high viscosity such as toothpaste or wax. The bag ends are connected to a container composed of two concentric cylindrical parts which enable twisting the bag by rotating one part with respect to the other. Flexible fins and ramp grooves of the parts implement a rotating ratchet mechanism which also allows for bag contraction during twisting. The ratchet mechanism enables accurate control of outflow and also keeps the bag in the last twisted pose it arrives to when the user stops twisting. The dispenser's twisting mechanism has simple structure and does not require any airtight construction. Such mechanism is relatively easier and cheaper to manufacture. Also, twisting the bag does not cause any bag's compartmentation as happens often in other methods of bags squeezing. By controlling the angle of rotation of the ratchet mechanism, which controls the amount of the twisting, the user can accurately control the amount of fluent material dispensed. Unlike dispensers with solid containers, the twisting principle enables the user to dispense the fluent material till the last drop. The ratchet mechanism which keeps the bag at the last twisted position when not in use, preserves the bag's volume and does not allow any outside air to enter the bag. This ensures that bag contains at all time only fluent material. This feature is important for fluent materials such as glue which deteriorate or dry up when they are in contact with air. The bag's two ends are connected to the two container parts by two butterfly nuts which enable easy manual bag replacement when the bag is emptied without needing to buy a new dispenser. The bag's nozzle is equipped with means for opening and shutting the product outflow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 describe an embodiment of the twist dispenser. FIG. 1 describes by isometric 3D drawing, the inner part of the twist dispenser which includes the flexible bag 21A at the initial state before twisting when it is full of fluent product to be dispensed.

FIG. 2 illustrates by 3D isometric drawing the bag of the dispenser at a partially twisted position when only part of the fluent product which was stored in the bag was dispensed. FIG. 3 describes by 3D isometric drawing the bag of the dispenser at completely twisted position after the entire fluent product which was stored in the bag was already dispensed.

FIG. 4 describes in isometric 3D drawing, the upper part 24A of the dispenser's container. FIG. 6 describes in more detail the upper part 24A displaying a cross section and a projection of the upper part. FIG. 5 describes in isometric 3D drawing, the lower part 25A of the dispenser's container. FIG. 7 describes in more detail the lower part 25A displaying a cross section and a projection of the lower part. FIG. 8 describes a cross section of the fully assembled twist dispenser including the bag 21A, which is secured by nuts 22A and 23A inside the upper 24A and lower 25A parts of the dispenser's container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND THE DRAWINGS

As briefly described in previous section, the dispenser is composed of 3 major parts. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the major parts of the dispenser are the bag 21A which is secured inside the upper part 24A and the lower part 25A. The upper part and the lower part create a rotational ratchet mechanism which allows to rotate the lower part with respect to the upper part only in one direction. The full bag 21A, which is described by FIG. 1 by isometric 3D drawing at its initial state before twisting, is secured to the upper part 24A by a nut 22A. The bag 21A is also secured to the lower part 25A by nut 23A. The nuts 22A and 23A which are screwed to the nozzle 21C and to the screw 21F respectively are butterfly nuts which enable easy manual replacement of the bag.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the inner part of the twist dispenser includes the bag 21A, which is filled with fluent product to be dispensed. The bag 21A is attached to the upper member 21B which has an outlet nozzle 21C which channels the outflow of the fluent product. As depicted in FIG. 8, the upper member 21B is also used to secure the bag 21A to the upper part of the container 24A using the nozzle's screw 21C and the butterfly nut 22A. The upper member 21B which has a rectangular shape fits into the rectangular box 24C attached to the ceiling of the upper part 24E. This fastens the upper member 21B to the upper part of the container 24A and secures it with respect to any independent motion including rotation.

As described in FIG. 8, the bottom of the bag 21A is attached to a lower member 21E which is used to secure the bag 21A to the lower part of the container 25A using the screw 21F and the butterfly nut 23A. The lower member which has a rectangular shape fits into the rectangular box 25E attached to the floor of the lower part 25F. This fastens the lower member 21E to the lower part of the container 25A and secures it with respect to any independent motion including rotation.

FIGS. 5 and 7 illustrate the lower part of the container of the twist dispenser. The lower part has a cylindrical shape with several flexible fins 25B which protrude diagonally from the circular face of the cylinder 25A. When the dispenser is assembled, the circular cylinder 25A is installed inside the upper part of the container 24A. As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, the inner side of the upper part 24B has a shape of a hollow cylinder which is engraved all around it with a sequence of small-identical ramp grooves with the same shapes and direction. The ramps 24B are radial and their faces are parallel to the axis of the cylindrical shape of the upper part 24A. As a result, the ramps have the same radial shapes which are engraved from the bottom to the top of the hollow cylinder 24B.

When the lower part 25A is installed inside hollow cylinder 24B, the flexible fins 25B slide around the hollow cylinder 24B. The diagonal structure of the flexible fins and the matching diagonal structure of the ramps engraved in the hollow cylinder 24B allow sliding only in one direction. Thus, the lower part of the container 24A is able to rotate only in forward direction with respect to the upper part and is blocked in the reverse direction. The structures of the lower and upper parts create a rotational ratchet operation. The user can rotate the lower part with respect to the upper part only in forward direction.

Since the lower side 21E of the bag 21A is secured to the lower part of the container 25A and the upper side 21B of the bag 21A is secured to the upper part 24A, the bag is being twisted when the user rotates the lower part 25A with respect to the upper part 24A. Gradually twisting the bag 21A lowers its volume and this enforces outflow of the fluent product stored in the bag 21A through the nozzle 21D.

FIG. 2 describes the bag 21G of the twist dispenser in an intermediate twisted stage. As can be observed from FIG. 2, when the bag 21A is twisted (denoted as 21G in FIG. 2), its volume decreases and the gradual reduction of volume while twisting, forces outflow of the fluent product stored in the bag 21A via the outlet nozzle 21D. Since the flexible fins 25B which are sliding on the surface of the hollow cylinder 24B create a rotational ratchet operation which does not allow the rotated upper member 21B to rotate backwards, the twisted bag 21G (was denoted by 21A when initially full) remains twisted in the same pose until the user twists it more when the user wants to extract more fluent product from the bag. Resilient bags are elastic and their natural tendency once twisted is to return to their original shape. If there was no ratchet present, the bag would rotate backwards once twisted and released. While rotating backwards, the volume of the bag increases and it sucks outside air to fill its increased volume. In such a case, the user would need to twist the bag all the way forward in order to extract all the sucked air before getting any new outflow of fluent product. Also, letting outside air into the bag might spoil certain kinds of fluent products such as glue or paint. So, the rotational ratchet is essential for efficient dispensing.

Since the ramps in the hollow cylinder 24B have identical shapes from the bottom to the top of 24B as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, the user gets the same rotational ratchet operation at any vertical displacement between the upper and the lower parts of the container. When the bag 21G is being twisted, it becomes also shorter as shown in FIG. 3. It means that the distance between the upper member 21B and the lower member 21E becomes shorter. Since the lower member 21E is secured to the lower part 25A when the bag is getting shorter it drags the lower part of the container into the upper part. But since the ramps are the same from bottom to top of the upper part, the ratchet operation remains active at any vertical displacement between the upper and the lower parts.

as depicted in FIG. 8, the bag 21A is secured to the upper part of the container 24A by a butterfly nut 22A and to the lower part 25A by a butterfly nut 23A. Hence, the user can easily replace an empty bag by manually releasing the nuts and securing a new, full bag to the same container. 

1. A twist dispenser for dispensing a fluent product, comprising: a bag; wherein said bag has bag skin made of flexible and resilient material; wherein said bag has a bag's opening; wherein said bag is filled with said fluent product to be dispensed; wherein enforcing outflow of said fluent product from said bag via bag's openings is implemented by twisting said bag.
 2. Claim number 1; wherein said twisting of said bag is achieved by rotating the upper end of said bag relative to the lower end of said bag.
 3. Claim number 2; wherein means for said twisting comprising of a mechanism which enables rotation in forward direction while disabling rotation in the reverse direction.
 4. Claim number 3; wherein said mechanism is based on a rotational ratchet mechanism.
 5. Claim number 4; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper end of said bag to move closer to said lower end of said bag.
 6. Claim number 2; wherein said bag is placed in a container; wherein said container comprising of an upper part and a lower part; wherein said upper part can rotate relative to said lower part; wherein said upper part of said container is connected to said upper end of said bag and said lower part of said container is connected to said lower end of said bag.
 7. Claim number 6; wherein container comprising of a mechanism which enables rotation in forward direction of said upper part relative to said lower part, while disabling rotation in the reverse direction.
 8. Claim number 7; wherein said mechanism is based on said rotational ratchet mechanism.
 9. Claim number 6; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper end of said bag to move closer to said lower end of said bag.
 10. Claim number 5; wherein said container has means for said bag replacement.
 11. Claim number 5; wherein said bag's opening is connected to a nozzle; wherein said nozzle has a cap with open and shut positions; wherein during said shut position said cap blocks any flow; wherein when said cap is in said open position said cap allows outflow of said fluent product via said nozzle.
 12. Claim number 2; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper end of said bag to move closer to said lower end of said bag.
 13. Claim number 7; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper part of said container to move closer to said lower part of said container.
 14. Claim number 3; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper end of said bag to move closer to said lower end of said bag.
 15. Claim number 8; wherein said twisting also comprises of enabling said upper end of said bag to move closer to said lower end of said bag.
 16. Claim number 15; wherein said container has means for said bag replacement.
 17. Claim number 14; wherein said container has means for said bag replacement.
 18. Claim number 15; wherein said bag's opening is connected to a nozzle; wherein said nozzle has a valve with open and shut positions; wherein during said shut position said valve blocks any flow; wherein when said valve is in said open position said valve allows outflow of said fluent product via said nozzle.
 19. Claim number 15; wherein said bag's opening is connected to a nozzle; wherein said nozzle has a cap with open and shut positions; wherein during said shut position said cap blocks any flow; wherein when said cap is in said open position said cap allows outflow of said fluent product via said nozzle.
 20. Claim number 5; wherein said bag's opening is connected to a nozzle; wherein said nozzle has a valve with open and shut positions; wherein during said shut position said valve blocks any flow; wherein when said valve is in said open position said valve allows outflow of said fluent product via said nozzle. 